Nightmares and Late Night Meetings
by Sarah BookLover
Summary: AU. Harry and Ginny help each other deal with their nightmares... and get closer in the process. Set in Harry's 6th year. Will be a multiple chapter story.


**AN: Hello! This is my first fanfiction, let me know what you think! Also, this is going to be a multi chapter story... Enjoy!**

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Ginny promptly sat up in her bed, her scream dying in her throat before it could even reach her lips. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage so hard she thought it might make a run for it, and her clothes, drenched in sweat, clung to her body like a second skin.

Ginny took a deep breath to try to calm her racing heart as her vision adjusted to the darkness enveloping her. In the moonlight, she faintly saw the shape of her wand in her hand, held up in front of her, ready to fight off an enemy that existed only in her mind. "_Now he's not only in my mind",_ she thought. Slowly, she lowered her wand, her heart still beating wildly against her chest, and took in her surroundings. She was in her dormitory, at Hogwarts, in her bed. She was safe. Nothing would happen to her here. But she couldn't shake off the pure terror she felt, even after having woken up from her nightmare.

The other girls were still sound asleep, blissfully unaware of her state of distress. The sounds of their breathing and, in Demelza's case, snoring, were the only noticeable noises in the room. She took another deep breath. Then another. Her heartbeat was slowly returning back to normal.

Knowing she didn't have any chance of going back to sleep now, Ginny got up, slipped her wand into her pocket and made her way to the common room.

The stone floor was cold against her feet, but the Gryffindor common room was still warn, thanks to the fire still burning in the fireplace. Ginny let herself fall on one of the comfiest armchairs by the fire. Back in her second year, when her nightmares were the worst, she used to come down to the common room almost every night. She found that the way the flames seemed to dance before her eyes helped her calm down from her frightening dreams and think more clearly. Usually, she was able to go back to sleep within an hour of staring at the flames and hearing the crackling fire. It comforted her. It made her feel safe. She hoped it still had the same effect on her.

Ginny let out an audible sigh. It had been a while since her nightmares had plagued her dreams. She closed her eyes, and the images she dreaded took over her mind once again.

She was back in the Chamber of Secrets. She was lying on the cold, wet ground at the feet of Salazar Slytherin's statue, motionless. Tom Riddle was talking to her, his voice unusually excited, telling her about all the horrible things he would to her family after he was done with her. His diary was open next to her, but try as she might, she could not lift even a single finger to reach it. She felt as if she was petrified. And then Harry came running in, brandishing the sword of Gryffindor above his head. Tom laughed, the sound making her blood run cold. The sound of his laughter was soon covered by the sound of the basilisk sliding across the Chamber's wet stone floor. She could hear it hissing, but she could not see it. Harry's face lost all its color and he ran in the opposite direction, out of her sight. She was still unable to move. The only thing she could see was Tom, sitting close to her, next to his diary and still laughing like the madman he was. Then, there was the bloodcurdling scream, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground behind her. She knew without actually seeing it, that the sound she had heard was the sound of Harry's dead body hitting the floor. Tom laughed even louder. Then, the only thing that filled her vision was the basilisk's face, its yellow eyes staring at her. It was over. She knew it. She was going to die in the Chamber, and she had taken Harry with her. Tom let out one last laugh, and then the basilisk dove on her.

Ginny opened her eyes with a start. Even if she knew that it wasn't real and that she was awake now, her hands were still shaking. She couldn't help it. The nightmares, almost four years after the event of the Chamber of Secrets, still terrorised her. What scared her the most was the feeling of utter helplessness. Everytime, she was lying on the floor, unable to help Harry or herself as they were both slaughtered in turn by the giant snake.

Suddenly, the almost complete silence of the common room was broken by the faint sound of footsteps coming from the staircase leading to the boy's dormitory. Ginny straightened herself on her armchair. She had to think of a plausible reason why she was there in the dead of the night. The footsteps were getting closer, and she still had no story to tell the nightly visitor. The light of a wand illuminated the staircase, quickly followed by a head fully of messy, black hair. Ginny let out a breath. It was only Harry.

His nose was buried into a piece of parchment and he did not notice her before he was directly in front of her.

"Ginny?" he asked. "What are you still doing up at this hour?"

For once, she was speechless. She literally had no idea what to tell him. He replaced his glasses on his nose with the corner of the parchment he was holding. Up close, Ginny could know see that it was the Marauder's Map he had in his right hand. His wand, still lit, was his other hand. "Ginny?"

"Can't sleep. Nightmares."

She certainly hadn't meant to tell him the truth but her words had come out that way. She could not go back now.

His raised his eyebrows and, without further questioning, took place in the armchair next to hers. They sat in silence for a moment, Harry's eyes scanning her face, obviously waiting for her to carry on. When he realized she wasn't going to explain herself further, he awkwardly cleared his throat. "So, erm, you want to talk about it?"

Ginny took a second to think. "No. Not really."

They fell back into an uncomfortable silence. The only sound to be heard was the crackling of the now dying fire next to them. Outside, the sky was getting lighter. Morning was close. Harry folded the map and put it his pocket.

"What are _you_ doing up anyway?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

She knew he was probably on his way to whatever part of the castle he had decided to explore, but she was still curious. Harry stared at her, his green eyes looking directly into hers. His lips curled into a small smile. "Couldn't sleep."

She chuckled lightly. She had no idea if he was joking or not, but his answer at least took away most of the awkwardness between them. Harry's smiled widened.

"You should try walking around the castle at night. It really helps me clear my head."

"Not everyone has an invisibility cloak," she pointed out. "I really don't fancy another detention".

It was his turn to chuckle. Her last detention had been for turning Ron's hair into a giant purple octopus in the middle of the Great Hall for trying to invade her "personal life" as she had called it. Unfortunately for her, pulling off her little prank at breakfast meant that McGonagall had also seen it. She had given her detention right away, and forced her to turn Ron's hair back to its original colour and shape.

Harry leaned in closer. "Well, next time you can't sleep, you should come wake me up. I bet there are tons of rooms and secret passages in this castle you still don't know anything about."

She smiled at him. "Sounds like a plan". Harry smiled back at her before getting up.

"I'll see you at breakfast, Ginny."

He waved at her, and not a second later, he was gone through the portrait hole.

What was she doing? She was with Dean now. She couldn't just go running off in the middle of the night with some other guy. Part of her wanted to just ignore his offer and pretend this meeting had never happened, but another part, a tiny, little part of herself was… looking forward to these future moments with him? "Besides," she told herself, "it might be nice to have someone to talk to about her nightmares". Someone that could understand the way she felt.

Ginny shook her head. She knew, deep down, that she eventually would take him up on his offer. It didn't mean anything. He only thought of her as a friend. And besides, she had given up on her feelings for him years ago.

She walked back up to her dormitory, her nightmare now forgotten, just as the sun came up.


End file.
